London Day Three

by chris cunningham

Sunday morning and up very very early. We have to catch the bus to finish off the city tour and to get to The Tower at a decent time to see everything there. We hit the streets at 7:30 and walked down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the streets of London so quiet. A few people out walking dogs and an occasional police car goes flying by on the empty streets. We got to Buckingham Palace and Queen was home. Her little flag a flyin’. We were quiet and just took pictures. As we walked along the south side a door opened up and out came three guards stomping their feet and holding guns. One guard addressed the other two and checked them up and down. After a few moments he led them out to the front of the palace and put them in their little boxes for the day. Yo boy, that’s the boring side of that job. Just standing around when no one’s there.

We got to the bus before everyone else and it’s much nicer today with less traffic and rain. We wound our way around London and eventually across the Tower Bridge and got off at The Tower of London to check in on the royal family jewels and think about beheadings. Hmmm… you just *have* to know for a split second that your head has been cut off. Blech. We got there before they were open and had to wait in line. I was freezing. F R E E Z I N G. Teeth chattering and everything. The place next to the ticket booths called Eat. opened up and they had the heaters on nuclear meltdown and it felt reeeeeally good in there. I was able to get warm with some soup, a sandwich and some chocolate. Ah, much better. Still cold, just slightly warmer.

So we went into the Tower of London and although I’ve been there 3 or 4 times it’s interesting each time. Something new and just the whole history behind it. It might seem to be a very touristy thing to do, but it delivers. Love The Tower.

We hopped on the boat for the ride back up the Thames and jumped on the bus again to get back home. It got dark and was raining so we just looked out the windows the whole way back. As we got back to Trafalgar Square, St Martin’s in the Field’s choir and orchestra came marching down the street for the Blessing of the Cradle. We watched a bit of that before stopping in at an italian restaurant right on the corner from the hotel. Exhausted and now full of a calzone we hobbled back to the hotel. We’re off to the Cotswolds tomorrow for a few days of exploring. I expect to hear a lot of oooing and awwwing out of my mom. Still no scones.